Contact Veteran Student Life

Department of Defense Tuition Assistance Comparison Tool

The Department of Defense announces the launch of an information and comparison tool called Tuition Assistance (TA) DECIDE that will allow Service members interested in using TA benefits to access essential information related to educational institutions and outcomes. This tool is yet another of DoD’s efforts to increase transparency and accountability commensurate with Executive Order 13607 and the Principles of Excellence.

TA DECIDE is intended to empower Service members, who differ from the general population in that the vast majority, are full-time warriors/part-time students. TA DECIDE provides Service members the information needed to make informed educational choices based on the experiences of other students just like them. This tool leverages similar tools and data sets developed by other agencies, incorporating not only lessons learned by those agencies, but also taking data feeds directly from them. Uniquely, this tool also separates out information that is exclusive to the experience of TA participants and reports relevant comparisons to that demographic.

Additionally, for the first time, DoD is publicly releasing information about usage trends related to the use of DoD TA benefits at any particular school. TA DECIDE can be used to search and compare information on our 2,600+ approved schools eligible for TA, including information on average TA costs, course completion, graduation and estimated tuition and fee amounts. The tool is designed to support personal searches by individual Service members, as well as collaborative interactions with DoD’s professional force of education counselors placed in the field to support our TA participants.

VA EDUCATION BENEFITS

You may be eligible for several types of VA education and training benefits, but there are many things to consider before you apply for a GI Bill program. For most participants, the Post-9/11 GI Bill is the best option. Other students would benefit more from the Montgomery GI Bill. The following comparison tools may make it easier to decide which education and training benefits are best for you To view the different educational and training rates from the VA use the following link.

G.I. Bill Benefit Website — This is a great resource for Veterans and dependents about hte G.I. Bill. You can create an account where you can have your questions answered by officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The University of Maryland’s Veterans Certification Official in the registrar’s office (vabenefits@umd.edu) processes all educational benefits before sending the information to the regional VA benefits processing center in Buffalo, New York. Please take the time to read the requirements and procedures on how to file for benefits. To avoid delays in processing claims, it is extremely important to submit all information along with any changes in status.

For more information about education benefits and other benefits available to veterans click on the following link : explore.va.gov or contact 1800 827 1800.